Unsung Heroes: Darrel Rensink does more than expected

Vickie Newell never will forget the email she received from Darrel Rensink.

Vickie Newell never will forget the email she received from Darrel Rensink.

When Newell, manager of volunteer and older adult services at Mary Greeley, thanked Rensink for all his volunteer work at the hospital, Rensink replied with a simple, “If you do just a bit more than what’s expected of you, you don’t have to worry about your future.”

That message is one Rensink still stands by, and part of the reason he was selected as one of this year’s Ames Tribune Unsung Heroes.

Rensink has been volunteering at Mary Greeley Medical Center since February 2011, and Newell noted he already has four different jobs at the hospital. Throughout the week, Rensink helps at the front desk and at the Bliss cancer resource center, and works as a clerical assistant in human resources. He also recently added his patient safety program, in which he visits patients with an increased risk of falling, and ensures their rooms are safe for them.

“He just does an exceptional job,” Newell said. “He thinks of others before himself, and helping others makes him happy.”

Newell was not the only one to praise the work Rensink has accomplished. Before volunteering, Rensink worked for 49 years in public service, and Verle Burgason took notice of his work in the Ames community. While Rensink had worked many years on several boards when he lived in Sioux Center, he also served as director of the Iowa Department of Transportation for 12 years, and then helped lead major projects such as establishing the National Farm Progress Show in Boone.

“I know the many things he did without recognition,” Burgason said of his decision to nominate Rensink for the award.

But when Rensink was told the reason behind his nomination, he simply gave a humble laugh.

“You always think ‘I really don’t deserve it,’ but to have been nominated and selected, it’s an honor. But I don’t look to do things to get honor out of it, that’s not important to me,” Rensink said. “If there’s anything I will lay claim to, it’s my enjoyment of working with people and trying to solve problems.”

And Rensink has served on countless boards across the state in an effort to work closely with other people. He was with the city of Sioux Center for 29 years, 14 years serving as city manager, and the rest as director for community development and public works.

During his time at the Department of Transportation, Rensink got to see the formation of the Burlington bridge from start to finish, oversaw all Iowa railroads and served as national president of the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials for one year. Rensink also ran for Congress in 1984, but was unsuccessful.

While Rensink is proud of the work he has done at the DOT and Sioux Center, one achievement stands out to him.

“I look back at all the projects I did, but probably the one that stands out would be bringing the National Farm Progress Show to Boone,” Rensink said. “That was a project I really worked hard on.”

Rensink worked as city manager of Boone, and took the National Farm Progress Show under his wing when the national event was developing in Iowa.

“We were finally successful in attracting them not only to Boone, but they made the decision to locate there,” Rensink said.

When it was finally time for Rensink to retire, he did not stop working in the community. After serving as the president of the board at the Sioux Center hospital, and acting as interim administrator for two years, Rensink decided to volunteer in healthcare.With two daughters and a granddaughter working as RNs and his wife, Jo, working as a CNA for most of her life, Rensink thought healthcare would be a natural step for him.

While Rensink enjoys the field of work, he said the main reason he volunteers is to make Ames “a good place to live.”

“I felt it was good to give something back to a community that had given something to me, and I just think it’s important to volunteer,” Rensink said. “What I’m doing now as a volunteer will hopefully also make it good for somebody else to live here.”